Escaped Game
by theblondeknight45
Summary: Arkham Asylum is experiencing a break out and there's really only one man for this job. When he arrives, what will he find and how will he fight an enemy of this caliber? Can he escape with his life? Will Gotham be the same if he fails? What if it changes if he succeeds? Sorry, summary kinda sucks. Just a Batman One-Shot I kind of made up on the fly. :P


**Just a quick Batman One-Shot I decided to whip up. Kind of an experiment working with certain characters, and I do plan on eventually releasing longer, more detailed Batman fics someday, but I'm SOOO BUSY right now; I also know I have other stories to work on, and will get to those...sooner or later :P **

**Anyways, please enjoy and leave a comment if you have a question, concern, etc, etc. I love me the comments! 3 (I don't own Batman or any characters...of course)  
**

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Thunder roared over Arkham Asylum as the rain poured down. All was quiet for a split second and then the alarms flared loudly throughout the institution and into the outlying hills. Red lights flashed around in circles and spotlights boomed on in search of the elusive target. In the far distance, racing towards the Asylum was a single car, headlights glaring into the night.

"All non-security staff members retreat to designated bunkers, guards be on high alert. Shoot to kill permission granted."

The message looped a few times and then the operator ran out, looking around for other staff members to join; safety in numbers wasn't always a proven method, but it was a lot better to be in a group in these kinds of places when danger was afoot.

The prisoners were locked in their cells and the cellblocks were powered down; a few guards remained to return power and order when the situation was dealt with, but most of the security personnel followed the Asylum's standing orders, moving to key strategic locations.

Aside from the blaring alarms, all had returned to the relative ease and quiet before the incident, but it did not last long. One of the spotlights caught a moving shadow that faded back into the darkness within the blink of an eye, but it was enough. A small team of heavily armed guards rushed over, rifles aimed and fully loaded.

"Give yourself up," one of the guards called, the red laser on his rifle peering keenly into the shadows. No response was given and the beaming beacons of blazing light sought out the figure to no avail.

At that moment, the motor vehicle made the final stretch to the Asylum and slammed through the decorative front gates violently, the alarms stopping shortly thereafter, but the red lights and spotlights continued shining. The purple and green truck (which closely resembled an armored school bus) halted to a screeching stop and the back doors opened. Out rushed several men in light purple jumpsuits with a wide, red smile emblem on the back.

Out of the passenger door stepped a woman with light makeup and a red and black schemed outfit, which contrasted her long and flowing blonde hair nicely. The driver was the last to exit, and out stepped The Joker in all his glory. His smile was as wide as the emblems and he gave a smug chuckle whilst adjusting his undershirt and dusting off the sides of his purple jacket.

"So he's escaped eh?" Joker inquired and got casual with one of the guards, putting his arm around the man and leaning in closely. The guard was clearly new to the Asylum based on his apprehension of 'The Clown Prince of Pest-Control' as one of his self-proclaimed names labeled him.

"Y-Yes Joker…he's out and he's bloodthirsty."

"Knew I should have put him down last time. Oh well, keeps the paychecks rolling, eh Harley?"

The blonde woman gave a curt and silent nod while checking a few papers and sending out the Joker's team; afterwards she went back into the truck and disappeared from sight momentarily.

"Yeah, you've got nothing to worry about now that we're here…" he trailed off as Harley shakily exited the van with a large weapon that nearly crushed her to the ground, "well…nothing except massive explosions, deadly chemicals, fatal acids…you know, the good ol' stuff."

Joker finished the thought with a grin then chuckled while the poor guard looked evermore confused, then more terrified than anything else when the Joker gave him a wink and a light slap on his posterior before departing in a stride to Harley's side.

"Ready Hon?" She asked gleefully, fluttering her eyelashes several times and leaning in for a quick kiss.

He accepted the affection with slight disdain, though hidden, and inhaled deeply before his response came, "Let's nab us a bat."

…

After several hours, the Bat Man was still on the loose and a few of Joker's crew had been killed, each in a horrifying and gruesome manner. Joker and Harley slowly and confidently tracked their elusive prey, having done so on several prior occasions. The halls and the corridors were very quiet, absent of all sound except the plopping of footsteps and occasionally the pitter-patter of falling water from a damaged pipeline.

"There's another one up ahead," Harley announced and approached the sealed metal door in stride, knocking in an almost fierce way.

Hushed whispers could not be contained from the inside and Joker looked around keenly as Harley knocked again and reported, "It's The Joker's team, we need to get in and check out the bunker."

The door remained closed off for a moment then opened as a hesitant nurse let them in, shutting it speedily and locking it with passion.

"What is it?" A female doctor questioned in concern, rising from behind a large wooden crate.

"Routine safety check," Joker announced with both casual swagger and a spunky tone as he walked in, his own manner of suave and personality shining brightly; a knife rested firmly in one hand and a gun in the other, "The Bat Man can't be so easily stopped by scrap metal like this."

"You think he's in here?" A second, male doctor asked in panic and jumped out from behind the same crate.

"Think? Why I'm almost positive…"

Joker trailed off and walked closer, causing the two and several others to run behind him. Joker examined the wall closely and raised his gun; one or two of the staff members let a whimper out. He held the gun there, fixed on a single, dark point amidst a sea of shadow before rapidly spinning around and pointing the other way.

"There! Behind you!"

Joker fired his gun several times before giving in to the deep laughter that had been welling up inside from the set up. The staff members looked furious, or rather they did if they could overcome the shock of the cruel jest. Harley quietly smiled, and went unnoticed by the Asylum workers.

Before anything else could occur, a loud and urgent knock erupted from the other side of the door. Harley put down the pad and pen and opened it up; one of Joker's crew stumbled out into the light, blood trickling from his neck and from several open wounds in his arms and legs. He dropped to his knees as the couple approached him and weakly muttered the urgent message, "freed the son…coming…us…"

Joker peered down at the man, who was near total collapse, with one eyebrow raised and stared intently into his injured, brown eyes.

"You didn't stop him then, huh? Shame, I almost liked you."

Without another word, Joker shot the man in the face and he fell down in silence, a look of betrayal painted clearly on his face, seemingly against all logic. The staff was horrified and several retreated into their hiding places.

"Looks like Bat Jr. is out of his cage too," Harley said and took the remaining ammo from the corpse.

"Indeed, and worse still he's probably going to meet daddy. We're gonna have to do some redecorating."

Though Harley understood the message the others were still too frightened to comprehend any possible meaning behind the phrase. Silence followed as the Joker stepped out and peered into the dark halls while Harley finished up whatever she had been jotting down on the notepad. Hearts raced and silence pressed down upon all, except the Joker himself.

"Okay boys, this one goes out to anyone that still has more than three-quarters of their blood or every bone inside their body," Joker announced over the radio he had been silently handed by Harley, "kick this operation into overdrive. Light the place up!"

Joker and Harley stepped outside and Joker keenly shot the power line, splitting it in two, after a quick warning to stay quiet and motionless, much to the chagrin of those inside when the steel door came down and locked them inside until power could be restored.

Within seconds explosions began to rock the Asylum and the infrastructure began to shake and crumble in certain areas. Harley sprinted forward while Joker ran close behind, his gun reloaded and pointed sharply ahead of him.

"Looks like they got the message," Harley commented.

Joker remained quiet, his eyes racing between the walls and within the shadows for the elusive prize that he had long known to be his greatest and most dangerous game.

They were close now, and would soon arrive in the gym, which was adjacent to the courtyard. Hopefully the crewman responsible for the gym hadn't been killed, at least not until after he finished his job.

Harley stopped outside the door and let Joker run into it and kick it open wildly, and the two stepped over the corpse of said man as the shadows leaked out into the moonlight of the outside world.

The Bat Man and his so-called son were drawn to the moonlight, to the expanse of the supernatural world they had been created and destined to roam in. They lurked within the dark and evil places of the outside, but their ultimate goal was the outside world none-the-less. Any quiet entrance into it would be their salvation from Arkham, and though this man had died opening those gates, his life was a small sacrifice to letting the game take one step closer to its treasure.

Gunshots boomed into the night like lightning and thunder, but they were soon extinguished and a cry of immense and torturous pain sounded through the courtyard as the couple emerged into the outside, rain already having begun to pour down.

"Say, I like the new look!" Joker greeted the hideous creature, black mouth covered in blood and dripping with the warm paste of human organs, which splattered down onto its chest and arms. The beast's blood red eyes and mouth went wide and its shadowy wings extended and a high pitched and terrifying cry rattled the courtyard as the son engaged Harley flying at her from all manner of directions.

The Bat Man did the same, using its unnatural abilities to turn almost completely invisible before springing at the clown, fangs extended and dripping with a vile yellow poison.

Joker fired the gun several times, missing all but once, when he hit his mark on the lower leg, but as usual, the wound healed quickly and did not affect his prey much at all. The Bat Man tackled his hunter down and pressed down upon him, the warm and putrid breath infecting the green haired man's personal space, though the man did nothing but resist to the best of his ability and laugh at the efforts of his prey.

Harley flipped around and dove over crates and debris and slid under the van and over to the other side to avoid the Bat Son, who was assaulting her with vivid rage, having already cut her open in the arms and on one leg many times. She had left the large gun down near the hole in the wall and was wielding a battle rifle with surprising skill to fend off the Bat Son.

The Son rocketed around and used the arena to propel himself forward and evade the bullets when they came, but like his Father, he was not immune to their damage, however slight, when he failed to dodge and evade. The Bat Son tried and failed several time to grasp the rifle, but upon swerving down and slightly to the right, he was able to seize it with his mouth and tear it in two before pressing the attack.

Harley was now forced to run in full retreat, scavenging for another weapon while avoiding an attack that would almost surely be fatal to her. She managed to grab onto a prone grenade before she was chased back up to a wall, where she ran up it a few steps, then flipped back behind the pursuing Bat Son, letting the live grenade pelt him in the back of the head before going off.

The Bat Son seemed to melt into the shadows of the ground as he disappeared, and a naïve hunter would take that to mean that he was near death, but Harley had learned this was nothing more than a tactical retreat, and that he would be back for her blood very soon.

Joker was being restrained as the Bat Man's fangs delicately touched his bleached skin and made the Clown tingle inside. After a prolonged struggle, however, Joker let out a knife from the sole his shoe that stabbed the creature deeply in the leg and made it release him.

The large monster let him up and lunged at him with super human speed, ripping his coat along the side and staining it with a crimson puddle that formed at the eaten away skin.

Joker staggered back and spun around to meet the monster again, and this time he was able to grasp it before it took a bite from his side. The Clown electrocuted the Bat fiercely and the creature growled deeply at the searing flash of the burning before knocking the Joker down by ramming his head into the man's lower chest and retreating into the shadows of the ground like his Son.

Harley regrouped with Joker, only able to find a knife and a gas grenade for herself after she found that one of the Bats stole the large rocket launcher from them. Joker laughed at the situation, but she seemed somewhat taken aback by this; she wasn't on his level and didn't see what he did, and she likely never would.

The two stood back to back, waiting for the attack that was soon to come. Before long a plume of a black gas, resembling smoke heavily, sprung up from the ground and out of it hurtled the Bat Son, who sank several of his claws into Harley's front side as she stuck him in the face and throat with the knife, full of passion and adrenaline.

One of the Joker's men ran out onto the courtyard balcony, long range rifle in hand, and fired at the Son from a distance, causing him to again retreat at the bad odds he was facing down. Before the Joker's man could find another target the Son leaped out beside him and tore him open from his throat, the rifle flying from his shocked hands.

Harley raced forward towards the balcony and hoped up onto a large chunk of debris before scaling the wall as best she could and seizing the rifle, jumping back down in wait for the next attack. It came when the Son tried a similar trick on her and she was able to fire a round or two in its front, causing a black liquid, what she believed to be its blood, to splatter on the ground.

Before she could do anymore the Father appeared from the other side and fought for control of the gun; the Son ran forward in the moment of distraction and aimed himself to rip Harley in two.

Just before the Son impacted, Joker bolted forward and let a green gas spray into the face of the Bat Man, who stumbled back and tried but failed to revert into his shadowy form. The Clown continued his assault and sent a knee flying into the monster's gut, followed closely by a foot to the face and a knife to the shoulder. Each move was planned and executed in absolute surety and a flowing concentration of mad skill.

The Bat Man, however, was not so easily affected by these actions as the gas, and though he was weakened, he was still capable of taking lives and with one fell swoop he grabbed Joker by the face and threw him back. Joker skidded across the ground and rolled several times, barely getting to his feet before the Bat Man was back in his face, bearing down upon him once more, eager to take the Joker's blood and add him to the list of kills.

Joker struggled to keep him at bay yet he laughed on, and his moans of wild abandon rang out with the thunder and the gunfire from Harley's weapon. Before he could try and electrocute the Bat again his device was torn from his hand and discarded, putting him on the edge of life and death.

Joker's laughs turned into a cry of brighter glee when the Bat Man's fang pierced his neck and drained him of his very life force.

Yet after a moment of taking the Joker's blood, the Bat Man recoiled and fell on his back weak from the toxin within the tainted red brew of the Joker's veins. The Clown himself fell to his knees and pressed his gloved hand down firmly on the holes in his neck, attempting to stop the blood from leaking out.

"Tastes good, right?" He asked the creature with another wild laugh and then a fierce cough, "takes some getting used to, I know, but look what a happy man it's made me! Imagine what it'll do to your ugly mug!"

The Bat Man appeared to be in a painful metamorphosis as his black skin shifted about him and his cries became weaker. Joker's laughs got all the louder. Maybe he was being changed too. No one had ever survived an attack from the Bat Man and lived, not one like this. They might both be changing-for better or for worse, their bond was stronger than ever. And it thrilled the Joker.

He let one knee drop to the ground and continued to giggle as Harley struggled in the distance, the Bat Son overpowering her and once more slashing away at her pretty body in an attempt to devour her limb from limb. What a beautiful sight.

Still, The Joker knew things would get more intense than ever if he played the cards right, and so after a swift kick to the Bat Man's head to get the monster's attention, he aimed his pistol, one shot left, at the duo and fired.

Silence abounded for a moment, then the Bat Son fell with a prolonged thud and the black liquid poured from his corpse. He had finally taken too much damage, and The Joker killed the Son of the Bat Man. The thought of it made him smile…

Then Harley fell on top of the corpse after a faint cry. Her vision became a blurry red and her eyes struggled to focus on the Joker as he limped over, drained of almost all energy.

"Sorry Harl, no room for second rates in the next leg of the race."

"B-But I…we…"

"No buts kiddo, that's the way the act goes. It must always go on, whether the leading lady makes it to the stage or not." Joker's words became harder to hear for her when he shifted his head to look at the Bat when he mentioned the "leading lady" bit.

"Loved…" Her last words didn't matter. It was all about the two of them now, and what they could do together.

"Sorry gal, see you in hell," Joker bade her farewell and limped away, blood flowing from his still open wounds. The Arkham Facility was still locked down and Joker knew it. The Bat would have ample opportunity to regain his strength and mourn his Son. And when he did, Joker would be waiting.

He walked out into the countryside, through the soothing grass and past the sanctuary of the melancholy trees. He grunted with each step and inhaled deeply, feeling he loss of blood and whatever surprises the supernatural secretions the Bat Man's fangs had left in him. He hoped the Bat was suffering just as much.

After an hour or two he had made it back to Gotham City's limits; the neon signs shining flamboyantly in the rain and the faded posters of products, services, and influential figures like Vickie Vale and President Luthor spoke volumes about the city's nature.

He drifted into the slums and took a seat in a dark alleyway, feeling fatigued yet surprisingly replenished at the same time. He sat down under a flickering light from the backside of Jervis Tetch's Hat Shop; it was close enough to his private (and closed down) base that was the old funfair on the outskirts of Gotham. He rested his back on the wall of the shop and sat with a wide, unnatural grin on his face, a grin that went visible with the flickering on of the light and faded into the shadows when it flickered off.

From his resting point he saw the figure of the Bat Man fly out into the wild expanse, no doubt to prepare itself for their next grand battle in the never-ending tale of their encounters. It brought on an even bigger smile to his face, followed by a sickly but ever deeper laugh.

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**So? How was it? I hope it was as good as I thought it to be while I was making it...anyways, I hope I got Joker down well enough. **

**As to what happened...IDK...I envisioned this as some alternate Earth where Batman is a monster and Joker is an anti-hero "protector" of Gotham...just something kinda fun, and I think it speaks loads about Joker. Even when he's a good guy...he's a jerk, ha ha. Love him, love it all. Thanks again, and don't forget to leave a comment telling me how much you loved it...or else! :P **


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